Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Ancient Egyptian Influence

With the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter, styles of ancient Egypt swept over the fashion world. Women not only rimmed their eyes with kohl (eye pencils became available later), but hints of Egypt were suffused in evening and day wear, as well. I looked through some books about 20th century fashion, and found some examples of its influence on fashion for the rest of the decade:

From a book entitled In Vogue, by Georgina Howell, which includes photos from over 60 years of British Vogue.Left to right, top, designs by Jenny, Doucet, Drecoll. Bottom left, Cathleen Nesbitt in an Egyptian brocade gown "with a Nile green georgette underskirt." Bottom right, a blouse with hieroglyphic-inspired patterns.

This flowing, pleated gown seemed Egyptian-inspired to me, but I was wrong. Actually, it's supposed to be Greek-inspired. This is a blue-gray satin gown by Mariano Fortuny. Anyhow, it's ancient-inspired!

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About Me

Perfumer, cosmetics formulator, jewelry maker. My admiration of past eras inspires all of my work! Styles of the 1930s and '40s are my favorite, but overall, 1900-1950s are of my main interest on this blog.